Butterfly Effect
Butterfly Effect is a new ballet commissioned by West Australian Ballet, choreographed by Alice Topp with music by Jessica Wells after Giacomo Puccini.
Butterfly Effect takes inspiration from ‘chaos theory’, and from the original troubled tale of Madame Butterfly and Puccini’s iconic melodies. Set six generations on in contemporary Western Australia, the story centres on Charlie - a young, inspired woman in conflict with her own decisions and wrestling with societal expectations. Like a butterfly in transformation, we watch Charlie fall in love, become a mother, fight for change in her role as an Army Medic, and aim to make an impact for good in a troubled world.
Performances 5 September - 20 September 2025
Choreographer Alice Topp
Music by Jessica Wells after Giacomo Puccini
Conductor Jessica Gethin
Orchestra West Australian Symphony Orchestra
Set and Lighting Design by John Buswell
Costume Design by Aleisa Jelbart
Read more about the story and experience of the ballet, as told by Patrick Gunasekera for Seesaw Magazine.
Photos by Sergey Pevnev.
Reviews
“Alongside composer Jessica Wells’s slow-building and cathartic re-imaginings of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly score, Topp’s movement vocabulary is unafraid to break convention.”
“Conducted by Jessica Gethin, WA Symphony Orchestra skilfully performs the hauntingly emotive hybrid score composed by Jessica Wells, honouring Puccini’s celebrated melodies with moments of distinctively local soundscape.”
The West Australian
“Jessica Wells’ unique adaptation of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly score encapsulates mood, solidifies setting, and underlines plot beats with skilful aplomb. Sans operatic vocals, Wells merges Puccini’s motifs and melodies with her original composition to create an emotive landscape for the characters to inhabit. Principal Conductor Jessica Gethin and West Australian Symphony Orchestra are superb in weaving together Wells’ heady aural tapestry.”
ArtsHub
“The combination of the original Madame Butterfly score, and new music written for this production is seamless.”
Out in Perth
“Butterfly Effect is a ballet born of choreographer Alice' Topp’s love of the tragic reach of Madame Butterfly and the music of Giacomo Puccini. Her protagonist, Charlie, however, is no passive heroine of balletic fairytale but a contemporary woman: a mother, a medic and an Army Reservist, facing the consequences of that difficult mix.”
Limelight
“Although it seems a complex tale, Alice Topps’ ballet is a masterful contemporary work that plays out with effortless skill.”
Post Newspaper